Mercantile Bank Building in Kansas City, USA

Abstract

This unique building, built on a scant 1,560 m² site, in the downtown area, totals 23,000 m² of built up area in 20 stories. In a departure from the usual line of office highrises, this building stands out due to the structural solution adopted, a solution which also decisively contributes to the façade design giving a highly individualised architectural character to the building. The most outstanding feature is the way the loads from the 16 upper floors, carried by 24 columns, are transferred to the only 5 piers traversing the lower floors, besides the vertical core. This load transfer is effected in the structure section corresponding to the 4th and 5th storeys and is constituted by 45° triangular shapes forming a trellis which ads an attractive effect to the façade, since this section of the structure is exposed. The all-metal structure, save for the floor construction and the foundations, is also fitted with relatively new fire protection systems and has been specially designed to allow a rather high degree of lateral flexibility in the event of winds in excess of 80 km/hour.